Who says animals don’t have feelings?

A late blog today… I’ve just finished one of the Christmas presents that I thought I had a few more days for but turns out I don’t. I made a purchase through GroupOn at the beginning of November which I thought would be valid for at least 2 months, like most of their offers but it turned out that wasn’t the case and in fact I had less than a month, to be precise.. the voucher lasts until tomorrow! Having thought I was going to have a busy Sunday, putting up the Christmas Tree, cooking Sunday Lunch, perhaps getting out with the camera, has turned into a manic day. I still have two other tasks to finish before the night is out and I currently have 1 hour 34 minutes left… oh crumbs.

Amongst all the manic activities, I was allowed to relax for one minute and enjoy the moment.. I reached my unwritten but true goal of 100,000 hits on Flickr for 2011. I’m really, genuinely pleased with this – at one point in the year I didn’t think I would make it – my calculation indicated I would be 20,000 views short. Just think what I could have achieved if I hadn’t had a lull in the middle of the year. Perhaps next year!

Today’s image may not seem that special, but it’s incredibly special to me. It’s not that I’m a massive fan of these massive beasts – it’s what the elephant is carrying and how the whole herd treated the object that was awe inspiring. Taken on the Masai Mara back in June of this year (that’s too long ago now, I need to go again (and again (and again(and again) and again) and again) and again), we happened upon this herd after having spent an hour or so snapping away at a pack of 23 lions. When we first spotted this individual we thought it was playing with a stick and didn’t give it much thought until looking through our enormous lenses we realised that this stick was in fact a bone.. a leg bone in fact of a deceased elephant. Our guide, William, a true Masai had never seen anything like it before but had heard of such things happening. He informed us that it would be the leg bone of a much missed member of the herd and that they would probably take it in turns to carry, taking it where ever they went. See, I said it was awe inspiring didn’t I!